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The growing beauty of green architecture

If all the roofs in a large city were planted, they could absorb a significant amount of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of removing thousands of trucks from the road. These buildings show what some imaginative architects have done with the idea

CaixaForum

This art gallery in Madrid, Spain, was designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, based in Basel, Switzerland – "recycling" a redundant power station in the building.

Patrick Blanc, a botanist who works for France's CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) and specialises in vertical gardening, designed the green front.

The green layer provides a insulating layer of air between itself and the surface of the building, reducing the building's energy costs.

(Image: Patrick Blanc)

Musée du Quai Branly

Designed by architect Jean Nouvel, this museum in Paris, France, opened in 2006 and boosted the trend for "living" buildings.

Again, the garden was designed by Blanc.

Each of his gardens have three components: the metal frame attached to the building, a PVC sheet which keeps the water in and a sheet of rot-proof felt, soaked in water and nutrients, upon which the garden grows.

(Image: KPA/Zuma/Rex Features)

Lost in Paris

Architects R&Sie designed this house in south Paris. The concrete building is wrapped in a layer of insulating ferns that are fed through an innovative watering system.

(Image: R&Sie)

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Still Lost in Paris

The ferns are wrapped around the structure and fed mechanically through these hydroponic pods. There is no need for a soil base for these to grow in.

(Image: R&Sie)

Rue d'Alsace

Another vertical garden by Blanc, this time on a residential building in Paris, seen here in May last year.

It was created in order to provide the apartments opposite with a verdant view rather than the grey concrete they would have otherwise looked out on.

(Image: Patrick Blanc)

Pershing Hall Hotel

Blanc's greening of Paris continues.

He avoids the structural damage often associated with ivy-covered buildings by ensuring that his gardens have a constant supply of water.

This means they grow on the surface of the building rather than having to extend their roots into it to find water.

(Image: Paul Cooper/Rex Features)

Sportplaza Mercator

This sports centre is in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

It is located in the middle of a park. The nearby residents requested that it blend in with the surroundings so the architects, VenhoevenCS, covered it in vegetation.

(Image: Luuk Kramer)

Westminster City School

This vertical garden in inner-city London was completed earlier this year. The building and garden were designed by Anshen + Allen Architects and built by Bouygues UK.